Rajasthan High Court: While deciding whether the Yoga certificate held by petitioner should be considered a valid sports certificate for the purpose of awarding bonus marks in the recruitment for the post of Physical Training Instructor, a single-judge bench of Arun Monga, J., upheld the respondent’s stand based on the Ministry’s communication dated 21-12-2016, which states that Yoga is not recognized as a sport due to its non-competitive nature.
In the instant matter, an advertisement (No. 09/2018) dated 04-05-2018 invited applications for the post of Physical Training Instructor (PTI) Grade III. The petitioner participated in the All-India Inter-University Tournament (AIIUT) for Yoga during his degree course and was awarded a proficiency certificate. Bonus marks were granted based on participation in recognized sports events. Initially, the petitioner received 28 marks for his Yoga participation but later had his marks revised to zero. However, during the document verification process, it was found that Yoga is not a recognized sport by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (Government of India), as per a communication dated 21-12-2016. Consequently, the marks for Yoga were revised to zero.
The petitioner contended that the communication from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, which declared that Yoga is not a sport, should not affect the recognition of his certificate. It was argued that candidates in similar situations had been granted marks by the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) in previous recruitments. It was stated that despite submitting a representation requesting the reconsideration of his marks, no action was taken by the respondents. However, the respondents contended that Yoga is not a recognized sport as per the communication dated 21-12-2016 from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, and therefore, the petitioner’s certificate was not valid for awarding bonus marks.
The Court noted that the Ministry’s communication dated 21-12-2016 clearly indicated that Yoga, despite being categorized as a discipline, was not feasible for competitive events and thus could not qualify as a sport for bonus marks. The Court stated that the subsequent communication dated 27-11-2020, cited by the petitioner, was irrelevant, as it applied to a later date and did not have retrospective effect.
The Court upheld the respondents’ stance that Yoga certificates should not be considered for awarding bonus marks, as it does not meet the criteria of a recognized sport as outlined by the Ministry.
“Even if the Yoga is categorized as Sports as is the assertion of the petitioners, even then no benefit of the same can be given to the petitioners since it is not feasible to hold any competitive sports tournaments of Yoga and thus in strict sense it cannot be termed as sports for the purpose of according benefit of bonus marks.”
The Court dismissed the petition on not finding any grounds to interfere with the decision of the respondents.
[Sita Ram v. State of Rajasthan, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 15274/2019, Decided on 12-11-2024]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
Mr. V.D. Vaishnav, Counsel for the Petitioners
Mr. Priyanshu Gopa for Mr. Vinit Sanadhya, Counsel for the Respondents
